Wednesday, 20 May 2015

Proposed Research Topic:
I am proposing my idea of a documentary based on sixth form life, this will show three students and watch how they act around school, they will also answer questions regarding their daily activities and what they find themselves doing on the weekend.

Purpose:
From this documentary we aim to show this to students who are coming into the school so that they can see what the sixth form at RWS is about. We want them to see it from different point of views and see that as long as you work hard you can still go out and have fun.

Background:
The background of this documentary was looking into what the sixth form at RWS is about and we wanted to show prospective students the true meaning of it by having a short documentary taking all the skills and friendships that they make at school and showing that they still are able to enjoy themselves at the same time.

Scope:
For this documentary we are investing 3months of our time in to it, by firstly researching the best people for the documentary and who would portray the best side of the school. We are then going to film for a few weeks making sure that we have the best footage possible for the documentary. After that we will then take all the footage to production and put it together editing the crutial bits.

Definition:
the director is the person that organises everything so that everything is in the
right place at the right time and is in charge of everything that is happening
during the production of the filming.

Producer:
Luke Biley

Definition:
the producer is second in charge during the filming as he as the producer has
to make sure that everything is happening at the right time just like the
director he follows what he does but has less control over what everything that
happens. his (the producer) main priorities is to make sure that the filming is
happening correctly and everything is in place.

Director
of Photography (D.P.) Luke Biley

Definition:
as the director of photography every shot is taken as a picture has to be taken
while the camera is still, making sure that the same lighting is being used in
every image so that with the final edit looks good and has consistent
lighting.

Editor:
Olivia Griffiths

Definition:
as an editor you are in charge of the editing when editing the main thing you
need to do is to cut and crop together bits of film to make a final piece that
looks good and professional.

Camera
Operator: Luke Biley

The
camera operator the camera operators are in charge of the grips of the cameras
they make sure the camera does not shake when filming.

Minor
Roles Assistant Camera (A.C.): Olivia Griffiths

definition
the assistant camera helps the camera operator when filiming this could be
helping with some extra grip or making sure the lighting for the project is
good at all times anything to help the camera operator.

Assistant
Director : Olivia Griffiths

The
assistant directors job is to complete any smaller jobs the director might want
to do this is to make there job a bit more easy.

Art
Director: Luke Biley

It is
the art directors job to create any things that need to be made for the video
for example: props.

Casting
Director: Olivia Griffiths

The casting
director is in charge of recruitment for the production they would look for
potential people who will work on the project they have to determine if they
are right for the job the casting director is vital for the making of the
project.

Location
Scout: Olivia Griffiths

The
location scout looks at potential sites for filming they have to determine if
the site is good to film on and if it matches the theme of the production and
if it also matches the description of the directors
wishes.

Production
Manager (P.M.): Luke Biley

The
production managers job is to manage all the production aspects of the
project. this means that they are in charge of logistics and budget there
job is very important as if they did a bad job it might bankrupt the
project.

Screenwriter:
Luke Biley

The
screenwriters job is to write the script for the project this means they are
creating the story for the project. the screenwriters job is very
important as they are creating the raw story for the project this means they
have a say in the success of the project as people will judge the quality of
the story and idea.

Monday, 18 May 2015

During our lesson we assessed each others documentaries and gave each other some constructive feedback.

When discussing our documentary we realised that it doesn't focus mainly on our title which was "Day In The Life Of A Sixth Former". After reviewing the documentary we discovered that we hadn't filmed them over a whole day and we had resolved to other days so that we could get more footage.

We have therefore re-named the documentary "Life Of A Sixth Former" this just shows that we have noticed its not about their day its about what they do at Sixth Form and how they fit in and get on with their time at the school.

We were assessed by our class on our documentary and the majority of feedback was positive.
However we did receive some critical feedback where they mentioned at some places you can't always understand the interviewee, we had previously noticed this, however we thought by turning up the noise of their speech that this would improve the clips.
This did not work so we have decided that we are going to add sub titles so that it is clearer.

Since getting feedback we have decided that there isn't a lot we need to change, it is just about improving what there is already, making sure the speech is clear and making sure that there is good transitions and it looks as good as possible.

In animation there are often a lot of different shots to show movement in the animation.

To shoot our animation we placed the camera on a stand and tilted the camera so that it was above the paper that we were about to film, we had to consider a lot of possible problems that may have occurred.

By placing the camera above what we were about to film gave us the opportunity to have the paper cut outs on a flat surface and make it easier to move them so that you don't have to stick them to the wall and risk them falling off. With them being on a flat surface there is less risk of the cut outs moving drastically.

When putting the camera at this angle we had to consider the effect that the camera might give off.

The camera could be shadowed on to the page, this was something that we had to overcome and by doing this we got lights that would surround the camera and turned off the over the head lights.

Another issue we would have had to consider would be the solidarity of the stand we had put the camera in, we needed to make sure that it was firmly in place and there was no risk of it falling over and either braking the camera or ruining the animation.

We also had to take into consideration the way the pictures would be taken and how we would move the animation as we didn't want to ruin the shots by having a hand in it or not moving the images properly.

Wednesday, 13 May 2015

In this i will discuss the Editing Techniques and write a glossary for this..

Cut -
What does this mean? - Cut is the most popular type of video transition it takes you from one shot right to the next with no fading.

How have I used them? - I have used them in my animation by quickly going from shot to shot creating a quick moving image

If you haven't used them, what was the reason? - N/A

Continuity Editing -
What does this mean? - Continuity editing is the predominant style of film editing and video editing in the post production process of film making of narrative films and other TV programs.

How have I used them? - N/A

If you haven't used them, what was the reason? - We didn't use this as we used a different form of editing that was easiest for our animation.

Cross Cutting -
What does this mean? - Cross Cutting is an editing technique most often used in films to establish action occurring at the same time in two different locations. In a cross cut the camera will cut away from one action to the next.

How have i used them? - We have used this for our animation as it is a lot of clips being put together so cutting from one to another is what we needed to do to make it effective.

If you haven't used them, what was the reason? - N/A

Dissolve -
What does this mean? - In post production in editing the editors may use dissolve, this is where they transition one image into another, this is also known as fade in and fade out. This is used to show a gradual change from image to image.

How have i used them? - We have not used dissolve

If you haven't used them, what was the reason? - We did not use dissolve because the film is rapid and it needs to be 30seconds so we felt dissolve would lengthen the film.

Establishing Shot -

What does this mean? - This is usually the first shot of a new scene, designed to show the audience where the action is taking place. It is usually a very wide shot or an extreme wide shot.

How have i used them? - N/A

If you haven't used them, what was the reason? - We did not use this because we are doing an animation and you aren't setting the scene as much in an animation.

Eyeline Match -
What does this mean? - Eyeline match is a editing technique associated with the continuity editing system. It is based on the premise that the audience will want to see what the character on-screen is seeing.

How have i used them? - N/A

If you haven't used them, what was the reason? - We did not use this as this is an animation and we felt that this would not exactly work for the animation.

Fade -
What does this mean? - This is where the shot will gradually form in to the next shot where the shot will darken and then lighten going into the next clip.

How have i used them? - We have only used these at the beginning and the end of our animation to show the beginning and end. We have not used them through out the animation though.

If you haven't used them, what was the reason? - N/A

Final Cut -
What does this mean? - The final cut is where the edited version of the film is approved by the director and producer.

How have i used them? - We have done this with our animation to make sure that everyone in the group is happy with the end result.

If you haven't used them, what was the reason? - N/A

Jump Cut -
What does this mean? - An abrupt transition from one scene to another with no transitions

How have i used them? - We have used this because we are very rapidly in our animation jumping from clip to clip to make sure that we have everything we want in the 30 seconds.

If you haven't used them, what was the reason? - N/A

Matched Cut -
What does this mean? - This is editing between either two different object or two different spaces, in the shots the objects would geographically match.

How have I used them? - N/A

If you haven't used them, what was the reason? - We did not use this as there are no actual objects in this animation.

Montage -
What does this mean? - The technique of selecting, editing and piecing together separate sections of film to form a continuous whole.

How have i used them? - N/A

If you haven't used them, what was the reason? - We did not use this because it is more of a story our animation and montages are more of memories than a story.

Rough Cut -
What does this mean? - This is the first time you have edited but still have more editing to do.

How have i used them? - We did do this just so that we could receive some feedback and work out ways to improve it so that when we finish it would be to its best possible standard.

If you haven't used them, what was the reason? - N/A

Shot Reverse Shot Cutting -
What does this mean? - Shot reverse shot is where one character is shown looking at another character and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character.

How have i used them? - N/A

If you haven't used them, what was the reason? - We did not use this as we didn't have real characters and this would be hard to do with cut out characters.

Wipe -
What does this mean? - This is a type of film transition where one shot replaces another by travelling from one side of the frame to another or with a special shape.

How have i used them? - N/A

If you haven't used them, what was the reason? - We did not use this as we felt it wouldn't be needed in our animation.

Accuracy - In our documentary we made sure that we kept everything natural so that we could show a real representation of a sixth former and how they act. The only thing that we pre prepared the interviewee for was the interviews where we would tell them the questions just before we would turn the cameras back on.

Balance - This is an important point of the documentary because the point is that you see the sixth form through different types of peoples eyes. The balance means that there is an equal argument and an equal opinion of the school. Having a balance in the documentary is imperative because you need to make sure that its not bias and diversity is what would make the documentary interesting.

Impartiallity/ Bias - This is where something is going in favour of what the producer thinks, wants or believes by claiming they're not biased when really they are. The bias within a documentary could be to do with the views that are portrayed by the film maker. If the documentary is based on a subject that could have controversial views then it is important that the film maker is fair and balanced with his ideas. In our documentary we made sure that none of our personal views were implemented, meaning that bias free.

Objectivity - The objectivity of my documentary is finding out how three people react to a situation they may not be comfortable with. We followed three students around so that we could see what their reaction would be, and how they would work with the cameras as well as showing their day to day life.

Subjectivity - Both of the film makers for this documentary were just general people who were in my media class, they weren't really friends with the people being interviewed so it wasn't like they had a preferred student but on a professional level we had to keep a distance to prevent any personal things becoming involved.

Representation - We were trying to show what it was life in the life of a sixth former, how things have changed since the lower school and what they do now their in the sixth form. They represented different types of sixth formers and thats what we were looking for and they really represented that.

Tuesday, 12 May 2015

In our documentary we asked a number of questions to our interviewees, here stated below are the questions that we asked.

Oliver Friend:

What do you do at the weekends?

How do you think people see you at school?

What subjects do you take?

Where do you see yourself in a few years

What is Sixth Form like?

What is different from in the Sixth Form to the lower school?

Jade Mason:

What was the transition like from GCSE to Sixth Form ?

Did you find it hard to fit in ?

Whats the best thing that happened since joining?

Whats your best impression?

Was it easy to make friends?

How do you think people see you at school?

Tyler Lewis Kilden:

How did it come across being head boy?

What does it mean to you

How was the transition from the lower school to the upper school

Do you think that your sexuality effected your nomination

When did you join the school?

What subjects do you take?

What do you do at the weekend?

After asking these questions to the interviewee, I found that the responses we had were reasonably good, i have picked a response from each interviewee.

Oliver Friend - When asking Olly the question "How do you think that people see you at school?"
Olly responded " I don't really think how people see me at school, I have my own friends so I don't tend to worry about how other people see me."

Jade Mason - When asking Jade her questions the answer that really stood out was to the question "Did you find it hard to fit in". Jade is a very bubbly student so when answering " I did at first but I gained more confidence and as all the girls were in the same position we bonded quite quickly" we were at first a bit surprised but after we thought that it was a really effective answer.

Tyler Lewis Kilden - We asked more questions to Tyler because he is the head boy and he has more of an understanding of the school. "How did it come across being head boy" to this question Tyler replied " I didn't think I had a chance at first but the teachers started to tell me that I did, and because the teachers believed in me I started to too." This was a great answer from Tyler because it showed that he really believed in his self.

For this task I watched two interviews one being Piers Morgan Life Stories with Cheryl Cole and the other being The Jonathan Ross Show with Simon Cowell and David Walliams.

Out of the two interviews that i have watched, my favourite interview would be the Piers Morgan - Life Stories with Cheryl Cole. I have chosen this one because you get to find out more information in this interview and it is more drawing because you are learning about an extremely well known person the information that you don't always know.

My least favourite interview would be the Jonathan Ross Show because it is more of a jokey interview than anything serious, therefore your not really finding out any information about what you are wanting to find out.

The best question asked out of all the interviews would be Piers Morgans where he asked the question "How does this experience change your life?" This for me was the most interesting question because you are finding out about how the change of life becoming a celebrity has changed her and what it has done for good then for bad.

The worst question would have been asked by Jonathan Ross where he asked the question "How is yours and Simons relationship working" to David Walliams, I thought that this was the worst question because it wasn't serious and it was making the interview into a joke rather than a serious interview.

"Well look at you Piers!" This was the funniest response because Piers Morgan was digging to find out the truth as to how much Cheryl Cole spends on clothes and she responded to the question "who would do that" Piers then replied "I know, ridiculous" where Cheryl then replied "Well look at you Piers!" I think this put Piers back into place showing that he's not going to be able to crack her that easily in this interview.

In Piers Morgans interview it was about getting an emotion out of someone and Cheryl Cole had just been through the trauma that was Malaria, that had only just happened 12 weeks before going on the show, so it was quite a raw topic. Piers asked the question "Do you remember the doctors saying to you that you could die? Do you remember how you felt?" Cheryl simply responded "If I'm going to die i'd rather go now so I don't go through anymore pain." This is quite an emotive response because its quite hard to go through a near death experience.

My Favourite interviewer is Piers Morgan because he tries to get to the point of the interview, he doesn't beet around the bush, he tends to get to the point of the interview and still find out the information that everyone wants to know.

Thursday, 7 May 2015

In order to produce a interview you will need a combination of skills/job roles, these responsibilities are shared by the producers, directer, interviewer, cameraman and music and lighting technicians. In this case you'll be doing all of these jobs yourself. In order to film an interview you will need to make preparations which include: arranging a guest, choosing your location, preparing your equipment and setting it up on location and a final briefing while making technical checks. Another tip is to always check everything before shooting and always take test shots before rushing into it and getting it wrong.

Camera Techniques/Shots

When filming an interview i would suggest that you should use the single camera technique, this means that you won't need to move the camera when shooting. When shooting you are either filming the interviewer or the interviewee, if shooting the interviewee you would generally shoot in a mid shot so that you just show their upper body. You could also do a two shot, this involves shooting both people involved in the interview. Another shot used would be a back cut, this is a shot of the interviewer asking the question which is shown on the other side of the interviewer. A very popular shot when it comes to professional interviews would be "The Noddy", this is a shot where they film the interviewee or interviewer nodding at the question or the answer.

Mise-en-scene

When it comes to mise-en-scene in an interview it often depends on who the interviewee is as to how it would work/be used. An example of this would be at an awards ceremony where the press backdrops would have the appropriate logos for who was sponsoring the event, who was the host of the event and the name of the event. It's important for the backdrops not to distract from the main person being interviewed. It's important for the interviewee to wear plain colours so that it doesn't cause a strobing effect with the camera.

Framing

Framing is an element that you should consider when making a documentary as it needs to be done properly in order to get the right look. A very popular technique to use is the rule of thirds, this is where the screen is split up into 9 boxes on the screen, this helps to identify where to place the subject. when using this shot you need to line up one vertical line and the subjects eyes close to a horizontal line. you need to follow the lines so that they line up the interviewee with the shot, making sure they are in proportion to the background so that no errors occur.

Three point lighting

Lighting is a very important thing when filming and interview, lighting helps to get a professional look in the shots. Many interviews do not use the correct techniques when filming their interviews so in order to make sure you get the best Finnish you need to include the lighting as a main point. The most popular lighting would be the three point lighting, this is where you use 3 different types of lights these are the Key light, Back light and Fill light. These all have different uses, the key light is the main light that has the strongest influence on the interview. The fill light is the secondary light and is placed opposite the key light, this is used for filling in shadows and it is often not as bright therefore it helps moving the light further away from the interviewee. Lastly the back light is placed behind the interviewee this helps to prevent definition and highlights around the subjects figure.

One to one interview

One to one interviews are usually set somewhere that links with the topic they are talking about. Some of these interviews are often filmed with a green screen or might have a poster advertising the film or product in the background of the interview. Depending on where the interview is filmed would depend if the interview was to have background noise or not, if it was in a park there would be noises of children however if it was in a room it would be quiet with no noise. The editing of a one to one interview is often much harder to edit as its mostly done in one shot so not everything is perfect and the sounds might need changing.